Cork trivet. and a question

Here's my last catchup craft: another nice cork trivet. I have a goodly supply of corks (some that I have generated, many that came from a supportive restaurant) and I'm always looking for a new craft to use these babies. [You should have seen the castle we built for my daughter's 3rd grade project! sorry, no pix]
Ah well, this trivet is not nearly as exciting as that castle was, but I came across a spare vent clamp and I had sold my other two cork trivets so here was a quick and easy creation.

So I made this little cutie and it was the first thing I uploaded in my slew of items onto my etsy site. That process always takes a little while to write out the product description, tag it etc. Well, I had no sooner finished with this item and started to upload the next item when I got a little ding from my Paypal app indicating a sale. Yes, indeed, my little trivet had sold within the first 15 minutes! Woohoo!

Now here's my next little dilemma: I've been making several trivets out of these natural corks, and I even have a couple of future projects in mind. But what do I make with those artificial corks? I have a bunch of those, too. But they just don't have the same vibe, ya know? So..... something funky and kitschy? But what?

Hmmmmm

Creativity from the west coast

Yesterday saw the completion of a trade of items with my new friend from the west coast. Donna, from Giggly Girl Designs on Etsy (that awesome site for creatives of all sorts from all over the world) emailed me a while back asking if we could trade. She liked my stuff and it turned out that I liked her stuff and the rest is history! I sent her 2 prints of my pieces and in exchange she custom designed and made a BEAUTIFUL bag for me. I'm addicted to bags and purses (just ask my family!!) and so it was a trade made in heaven.
Well! My bag arrived yesterday and it is AWESOME! Featured is one of my favorite artists: Frida Kahlo... and it has pockets galore! And the colors are perfect and the size is perfect and, and and--I love it!
Check out Donna's cool shop on Etsy at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/gigglygirldesigns and see if you like one of her other models! I can certainly attest to the good workmanship and she is very open to suggestions/requests.


Meanwhile, check it out:

Can you tell how much I love it by how tightly I'm clutching it?? BTW--I'm standing in front of one of my larger, abstract pieces called "Midwest Roadmap".











From the front--the smallest pocket houses my cell phone.













From the back--yet another pocket! And more pockets inside!

Great big thanks and hugs to you, Donna! I now have a lovely new bag, custom made just for me (makes me feel special!) and, even better, I have a lovely new creative friend in California. Talk about a win-win situation!

BTW, I do have a link on the right over there somewhere, but don't forget my own etsy site at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/celestialtextiles